By David Poland poland@moviecitynews.com
Thor…
This is a much more promising trailer than the first one that starts with all the Asgaard stuff. Unfortunately, that promise is that this could be a movie so bad that it’s fun to laugh at…
May 19, 2024
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It shows how out of it I was in trying to be in it, acknowledging that I was out of it to myself, and then thinking, “Okay, how do I stop being out of it? Well, I get some legitimate illogical narrative ideas” — some novel, you know?
So I decided on three writers that I might be able to option their material and get some producer, or myself as producer, and then get some writer to do a screenplay on it, and maybe make a movie.
And so the three projects were “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep,” “Naked Lunch” and a collection of Bukowski. Which, in 1975, forget it — I mean, that was nuts. Hollywood would not touch any of that, but I was looking for something commercial, and I thought that all of these things were coming.
There would be no Blade Runner if there was no Ray Bradbury. I couldn’t find Philip K. Dick. His agent didn’t even know where he was. And so I gave up.
I was walking down the street and I ran into Bradbury — he directed a play that I was going to do as an actor, so we know each other, but he yelled “hi” — and I’d forgot who he was.
So at my girlfriend Barbara Hershey’s urging — I was with her at that moment — she said, “Talk to him! That guy really wants to talk to you,” and I said “No, fuck him,” and keep walking.
But then I did, and then I realized who it was, and I thought, “Wait, he’s in that realm, maybe he knows Philip K. Dick.” I said, “You know a guy named—” “Yeah, sure — you want his phone number?”
My friend paid my rent for a year while I wrote, because it turned out we couldn’t get a writer. My friends kept on me about, well, if you can’t get a writer, then you write.”
~ Hampton Fancher
“That was the most disappointing thing to me in how this thing was played. Is that I’m on the phone with you now, after all that’s been said, and the fundamental distinction between what James is dealing with in these other cases is not actually brought to the fore. The fundamental difference is that James Franco didn’t seek to use his position to have sex with anyone. There’s not a case of that. He wasn’t using his position or status to try to solicit a sexual favor from anyone. If he had — if that were what the accusation involved — the show would not have gone on. We would have folded up shop and we would have not completed the show. Because then it would have been the same as Harvey Weinstein, or Les Moonves, or any of these cases that are fundamental to this new paradigm. Did you not notice that? Why did you not notice that? Is that not something notable to say, journalistically? Because nobody could find the voice to say it. I’m not just being rhetorical. Why is it that you and the other critics, none of you could find the voice to say, “You know, it’s not this, it’s that”? Because — let me go on and speak further to this. If you go back to the L.A. Times piece, that’s what it lacked. That’s what they were not able to deliver. The one example in the five that involved an issue of a sexual act was between James and a woman he was dating, who he was not working with. There was no professional dynamic in any capacity.
~ David Simon
Much more likely to see it now. That said, if Whedon really wants to make Avengers, I suggest he start shooting before Thor opens.
LOOK AT HER!!!!!
This looks incredibly awesome. Both trailers.
Is Paramount releasing every movie this summer?
This looks like an absolute mess.
Just every movie with tights… except for Green Lantern and X-Men: Full Frontal.
Can we discuss the fact that Kenneth Branagh is directing this? I’m not sure whether that makes me excited or depressed.
They stole the “destroy nondescript western town” schtick from Superman II.
How about that Avatar hospital scene???
Ugghh…I think they used one shot, twice.
This trailer is so utterly different from the first…what info could they have gotten back in two weeks?
The sad thing is you could splice the two together and have one solid grabber. Start with Asgard, drop him on Earth, intro Portman, go to Loki and The Destroyer. The clear shots of Hemsworth dressed or acting like a dude makes the Asgard stuff look more absurd. And the NCIS wannabe chick name-dropping Facebook…
I still don’t understand how they couldn’t afford to make an Asgard-centric film. Outside of Valhalla, the rest is location shoots. That’s material Branagh would’ve excelled with. And this science/magic shite…Kirby wedged that revisionism onto Thor in the 70’s when he was in his “Chariot of The Gods” kick at DC. To drop it o the movie as a way to make it “real”…what’s the Templar say? “He chose poorly“.
“…the NCIS wannabe chick” is Kat Dennings, dude. Respect! Also LOOK AT HER, etc.
I dunno, looks like it could be fun. I’ve given up on trailers as any kind of reliable gauge for how I might like something or not though.
You fucking people are high. This trailer is tremendous. Seriously David, those comments are so fucking lame that they make sense coming from you.
Also Martin S, outside of your shit fucking politics, slamming Kat Dennings might be the second shittiest thing you ever posted on this blog. Seriously, don’t fuck with the Kat.
Hurry, Natalie, have that kid so I can spring you and your new cellmate Alba from Hotness Jail. Minimum three-year term for LOSS OF HOTNESS BY PREGNANCY OR MARRIAGE.
You are so weird. Funny but weird.
Love Branagh, think he’s right for the gig, but the spinning overhead camera work is the same overwrought style for his comedy version of FRANKENSTEIN.
Can I add that while I’m not a huge Branagh fan, his SLEUTH remake was kind of awesome (and looked incredible)?
This will be Battlefield Earth 2011. The New Mexico town looks so bad. It’s a complete clash with the Asgard scenes.
Yeah because it’s real easy to have Destroyer… DESTROYING a town in New Mexico. Seriously, I cannot for the life of me figure out where all of this hate towards Thor is coming from… seriously.
Name dropping Facebook is as hip as the Myspace reference in IRON MAN.
Christian, many of us have seemingly decided to not throw Facebook under the bus and that’s what people do. Do you not have a facebook? Do any of you have a facebook? Seriously, I am curious, and no it’s not like we need to be friends or anything. I am just curious as to where you folks stand on social media.
IO, some of us may think that referencing every new trend — or in this case, old trend — for a new movie dates it instantly in a bad way. There’s no reason to namecheck Facebook in a THOR film. A Justin Beiber reference wouldn’t make it more au courant. Just desperate.
I want to know where Odin got the tshirt and jeans for when he threw Thor out of Valhalla.
Are jeans the Norse equivalent of a prison jumpsuit?
There’s a scene where Odin casts him down into Urban Outfitters. To keep it current.
Christian, again, it’s what people do. Sure it may be dated one day soon but right now, people take random pictures like that, and they post them on Facebook. It’s a thing that real people do and that’s not desperate, that’s art imitating life.
FS: Urban Outfitters just south of the rainbow bridge and just west of the Ice Giants area.
“that’s art imitating life.”
I wasn’t gonna use the word “art” to reference THOR but I wanted to and art doesn’t need to validate itself with pop jargon just to feign topicality. It dates the “art” fierce.
I always knew Heimdall had a little business on the side…
Wait til you see the Loki hoodie scene.
Oh, come on, Christian. All due respect, because I LOOOOOVE the 007 series more than anything in the world, but you’re a HUGE Bond fan, and that’s a series with maybe more product placement than anything ever. Not to mention individual entries that contained shoutouts to whatever was huge in pop culture at the time, especially from Live and Let Die (blacksploitation) and Man With the Golden Gun (chop-socky) through at least Tomorrow Never Dies (definitely of its specific 1997 moment both technology-wise and for its general Asian crossover hard-action vibe.)
The product placement in Bond fits perfect into his high class world. But Connery’s “My dear that’s like listening to the Beatles without ear muffs” in GOLDFINGER still grates.
The Bond films also had the uncanny luck and timing to reflect their culture, courtesy of Ian Fleming’s vision.
Christian, a 20 something using her Iphone to send something to her facebook page is not pop jargon. It’s life in the 21st century and THOR IS ART! Sorry, look at Asgard, and tell me that’s not art.
It’s a distraction. Not funny or clever. One you could see on any tv series. Asgard looks like THOR, not life. You want art or life? I’m a huge THOR fan and if we meet, I’ll tell you about the time I interviewed Stan Lee and blew his mind and vice-versa discussing the god o’ thunder Kirby era.
What’s a distraction? Facebook? Again, it’s a cogniscent line of life in the 21st century, and ASGARD is an amazing bit of production design. If I remember correctly, Production Designers are mostly composed of artist. So, ergo, THOR IS ART!
Facebook ain’t art. Ergo THOR cannot be life. Or something.
This needs to go on a little longer.
Thanks to you, it has:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q631uZ6DQzg
Artist use facebook and put art on it ergo… FACEBOOK IS ART! Seriously, you dislike facebook, good for you, but that’s what people do these days. I just don’t get why that scene is such a disgrace. I am also referring to the production design in Thor, which appears to be top fucking notch. Come on man. Get a facebook page, follow Lex on twitter, and all that jazz!
One of the great things about old movies, to me, is the “dated” cultural references. It’s pretty hard to make a movie without some cultural specificity. THOR, like every other non-period movie, will eventually be dated by its clothes, haircuts, cars, phones, production values, f/x, etc. Films ultimately can’t help being a product of their time. Facebook is huge right now, so a throwaway line or two shouldn’t do much damage. And I certainly have no problem with a 1964 British movie referencing the Beatles. In fact, I bet anyone remaking GOLDFINGER but keeping it set in 1964 would add at least one Beatles reference as period flavor.
i like the story they went with. the ultimate version of thor is in my opinion the best take on the character.
but the whole awesomeness of that story was that you didn’t know if he was a looney or a God until the final issue of the series, which was like, the 12th issue. It was such a great take because you had this mysterious guy who was powerful but when he claimed he came from a faraway magical universe every other hero and nick fury would roll their eyes and think the guy was batshit crazy.
With the trailer stuff they’ve shown, they have basically taken that whole idea of ‘is he some kind of superpowered human or an actual norse God?’ and told us. Yup. He’s a God.
Who knows if this is going to be spectacular or spectacularly awful. Either way, i’m there opening weekend, and i suppose that’s the point of the trailer.
Christian’s right on all of this.
When you namecheck it’s a boldfaced nudge-nudge/wink-wink to the audience, but when the namecheck is for something ubiquitous, it’s overkill and really lazy dialogue.
If NCIS chick pulled her phone, recorded Thor and said “This is going up” or to that effect – the core audience will get it. But to blatantly stick in a brand name is not arbitrary. Why wasn’t it “I got to Tweet this”? Or Youtube? It’s a shitty, unnecessary pander because FB is “hot”, which always devalues a movie. It’s Back To The Future versus Back To The Future Pt 2.
As for Bond, while the Beatles reference is weak, nothing compares to the god awfulness from the Moore era. The CE3K ring keycode in Moonraker, a character named Jaws, and is there anything more quickly dated than F’ing Walken and the Power of Silcon Valley!?!
Re: The desert. Thor has always been in a city. It never felt like Manhattan, but Chicago. So to drop him in the desert…not even Wyoming or the Colorado Rockies where the character could find a sense of home on Earth…thank you New Mex tax break. And I love the excuse for it – it’s all about the Avengers…got to tie him into Hulk…puh-leaze.
I mean, if they shot it somewhere cold, he could have worn Northface gear and been really, really, f’ing kewl while making a subtle pun. Post-modern product placement! IO FTW!
A large chunk of my enthusiasm for Thor was because Branagh’s behind it. If they’d announced this project two years ago with “directed by Stephen Sommers” I would’ve had an attitude more like “just don’t suck as much as Fantastic Four.”
If any of you guys think Facebok is “hot right now”, you are so fucking out of touch it’s laughable. Facebook is not a trend, it’s not something that you join because you want to be cool. It’s a bonafide extension of “most” peoples “connected” lives now, and has been for YEARS. And it’s most certainly a defining aspect of the age bracket that the Kat Dennings charater represents.
Jesus, it’s like complaining that she asked for a Kleenex instead of a tissue. Distracting? Only if you’re a pickfart with an axe to grind.
Sandwich, thanks for bring a much needed hammer to this discussion.
Martin, again, thank god people like you aren’t making movies because they would fail to understand what yancy and sandwich posted.
Could we have a more pointless conversation? Really, had facebook not been mentioned in the trailer, those complaining about it would just find some other pointless detail to complain about.
I will say though, that no small town in New Mexico looks like that. Not nearly enough adobe.
As long as a work doesn’t rest soley on one’s ability to understand topical references, I don’t see how it hurts. As posters above mention, all movies eventually become period peices if they are set in the “modern” present. The only works that I think literally don’t have any worth because of their insistence on references would be those awful DATE MOVIE/EPIC MOVIE things, where they literally have nothing else to stand on and won’t have any resonance for people even five years down the line. Story, characters and theme are the type of things that movies ultimately live or die on.
Wasn’t The Delorean a cool car at the time of BACK TO THE FUTURE? Now it’s considered very much an artifact of the 80s but that doesn’t stop B2TF from being a fantastic film, and that car figures far more directly into the plot of that movie than I’m assuming Facebook will in THOR unless the movie ends with Thor refreshing a friend request or something…
I think adding Kat Dennings to the trailer gives the movie more street cred, now matter what she says… though she does seem to be playing Busty Comic Relief Girl #3.
And JKill… the Delorean was ironic even when it was put in the movie. It’s Doc Brown’s sense of futurism, which is a character bit. And in context, I imagine that so is the Dennings character mentioning Facebook.
Seems to me what ParVel was trying to do with this new trailer was to take the story away from thunderbolts and gods, which was not tracking with audiences, and to refocus on hot Natalie, romance, hot funny Kat, and thick-necked blond dude. True Blood with a god instead of vampires.
And so far, the scariest thing to me about everything I’ve seen – including the Grammys appearance – is that he looks like an utter stiff.
Yeah, storymark, it’s crazy to discuss details of a THOR trailer on the post about the marketing of the THOR trailer;]
Wasn’t The Delorean a cool car at the time of BACK TO THE FUTURE?
No, Delorean had been disgraced in 1982. As DP points out, it was ironic. And in a film whose theme is contrasting culture, perfectly apropos. There’s an organic way to merge these things into film, but this is the total opposite.
Thanks for the added context, DP and Christian. I’ll have to keep this in mind next time I watch it. That’s a good point about how these references, at their most effective, are as much character beats as anything else.
I think it’s odd that Hemsworth’s leading roles are both for movies that are in the can but won’t be released until after Thor (CABIN IN THE WOODS, RED DAWN). While he’s an unknown, that can really work out like with Chris Pine in STAR TREK. There is something cool about an iconic character being presented with zero baggage from the actor playing it. However, the actor still has to deliver.
The moving the focus in the ads from fantasy to a more grounded approach with more emphasis on the female characters, for instance, probably would have to appeal wider. The fantasy stuff, and maybe it’s because it’s the only recent movie sort of in the same genre, keeps making me think of CHRONICLES OF RIDDICK in how ultra geeky it was. I like that movie, and I think Thor personally looks really cool but preaching to the converted does not seem to be the way to sell these movies, especially with a character that’s probably, to mainstream audiences, less well known than IRON MAN, which at the time was considered risky.
Thing is, Chris Pine – who still isn’t proven as a movie opener – was on very familiar territory, surrounded by very familiar characters who aroused audience curiosity by having working genitals.
Thor in The Avengers… fine… whatever. But as a solo act with a character who is – whether IO likes it or not – second tier… that’s a lot of weight to put on a grunter’s head.
Won’t the very fact that it is a Marvel production date the movie the same way as the Cannon or Carolco logos help date those films?
I’m not familiar with this character’s mythology. But I’m bored as hell watching this. Nothing in this I haven’t seen 100 times over.
I suspect most movie fans will be Marvel’d out by the time The Avengers hits the screens. I’m somewhat hopeful for Captain America, but we’ve seen very little footage from that…perhaps for a reason.
Don’t even get me started on this New Mexico setting;]
This trailer sorely needed a Mohicans “I will find you. No matter how long it takes, no matter how far, I will find you” – type of moment. Where’s the destiny? Where’s the love that crosses heavens and galaxies. Looks very Iron Man lite.
What is all this drama about a Facebook mention? Embarrassing.
DP says “Busty Comic Relief Girl #3” – again with the sexual stuff DP. Stop giving ammo to Promans loopy theories! Seriously though. I never realised being Busty was part of the female comic relief character in ANY film.
Who needs Captain America when we already have this. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-GFYi-O07s
David, what you think about this is irrelevant because Thor is not B-LIST. He’s a founding member of the Avenger, he’s had a few TV incarnations, an appearance in a really awesome Hulk/Daredevil movie, and do I even have to bring up Adventures in Babysitting? Seriously, Thor has been around, he is a norse god, and you trying to quantify shit in your very Poland-esque way does not change any of the facts.
You are also slagging this film and it’s star with zero fucking knowledge. The fact that you think he’s a stiff, proves a truth about you: Outside of the financials of the Summer, you are completely fucking useless when it comes to discussing the movies themselves. Unless it’s fucking Hancock then you steam your pants enough that you could probably cook broccoli in them.
ETA: How dare you SPIRITUAL FILMMAKER not link to a trailer for the REB BROWN Cap movies. Shame on you!
IO who am I again? It troubles me greatly that you think Lex knows what he’s talking about.
The only Reb Brown films I would ever link to would be his Mora knockout double and S&TS.
“You are also slagging this film and it’s star with zero fucking knowledge.”
From the guy who threw Teh Nolan under the bus for casting.
This is being “with it” too:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UeS-Xb5u4-U
Christian, it seems I should have thrown Snyder under the bus for casting a guy with a fro as Superman because he liked the way his ass looked in the suit. The fact that you still DON’T GET why that pisses me off is on you and not me.
I did however forget why David is acting like a total jagoff towards this movie: IT’S A PARAMOUNT FILM AND HE STILL HATES FUCKING PARAMOUNT! Duh! My bad for forgetting.
ETA: Christian, people use facebook, it seems to be a part of our lives at the moment, and slagging a film for actually being realistic in the portrayal of our facebook useage is silly.
Adventures in Babysitting is itself, terribly b-list.
Its like trying to say Kreel was a huge band in the eighties since it was the favorite of the kid in Vice Versa.
Oh shut up Aggro. Why don’t you get hit the heavy bag, you jerk :P!
at least in the movie, thor looks less like a big 6-dot domino than he did in that ‘mighty thor’ cartoon from when i was a nipper
(and ftr, at no point in that trailer is the size of kat d’s bust even remotely apparent, rugged up in winter woolies/longs as she is)
i was hoping against hope that branagh would make a thor movie that looked and sounded stylistically unique and different (whoever mentioned asgard seeming chronicles-of-riddick-esque up there, i heard that), i don’t know why i thought that could happen. but this looks pretty same ol same ol. i guess it has to tie into avengers so…
Wow, you bring up the cultural leviathan that is Adventures in Babysitting to prove Thor is top-tier quality. Wanna’ bring up his cameo in the testing video from The Parallax View- a movie that was made over 35 years ago-as well? And his marvelous catchphrase that spread around America like wildfire…….. what was it again? The man wasn’t even in Marvel vs. Capcom 2 and if there wasn’t a movie about him, he probably wouldn’t have made 3. Saying Thor is in the main pantheon of super heroes because he’s one of the founding members of Avengers is like saying Bill Cartwright is on the same level as Michael Jordan or Scottie Pippen (Or hell, Horace Grant, for that matter)…… Okay, that’s a low blow. That’s Aquaman. But you get my drift, even if you are going to use a lot of words utilizing caps lock to say how wrong I am.
That’s to say I’m not anxiously awaiting Thor. I look forward to Thor the same way I looked forward to Ang Lee’s Hulk. It’s a fascinating combination of subject and director and I’d love nothing more than for it to be a success. But at the time, there’s Ang Lee’s Hulk. I know, I know, this is when people come out of the woodwork to defend the shit out of Hulk. Okay, the action beat in the middle of the movie is Hulk fighting a mutant poodle. The climax is Hulk fighting his father as the wind, the sea, and the earth. The scenes where they use the comic book panels are wasted on shots of helicopters arriving. You can’t come back from that! But man, there was never another movie I hated more that I didn’t try my damndest to like.
Thor seems like it’d be perfect for a Shakespearian-style drama spackled with special effects laden ass kicking, but this trailer shows they’re moving away from that. But I’ll wait and see, even when Thor looking like he’s going to belt out the latest Top 20 country hit doesn’t rub me the right way (But that’s ANYONE who looks like they’re going to belt out the next Top 20 country hit to me, so I’m not just picking on Thor here).
If Jack Kirby drew ‘im, he’s part of the pantheon. And THOR was a major popular Kirby character.
I just wish they had used the “Ragnarok” storyline.
When he declares that he likes the coffee, loudly demands more, and then smashes the mug on the ground, I laughed out loud. I hope there’s more stuff like that in the movie.
And the Mjolnir stuff looks awesome. Are they gonna open the movie with a Hulk cameo as he unsuccessfully tries to lift it from the ground?
But why does every commercial and trailer have to end with the same Thor yell? It’s silly. Maybe it’ll be the new Wilhelm Scream. The Thor Yell.
“Yeah, storymark, it’s crazy to discuss details of a THOR trailer on the post about the marketing of the THOR trailer”
Did I say that, Christian? Let me check… No, I didn’t. Telling that you need to re-frame what I said, though. Must be why you have so many admirers.
I still think it s a bit myopic to spend energy decrying an entire film, sight unseen, for a single line that *gasp* dares to mention something current. But hey, if that’s what ya like, knock yourself out.
As for being top-tier…. well, he is to fans of the Avengers comic, sure. Beyond that…. yeah, 2nd tier is fair. He’s a staple of the Marvel Universe, but the character hasn’t been that popular, outside of the hardcore, in a long time.
Personally, I never picked up a Thor comic, even at the height of my comic-buying days. But I do really look forward to this flick. Looks like a lot of fun. Sure, Hemsworth does seem a bit stiff…. but that’s Thor. He’s the big blond lunk of the 616.
Hardly decrying, and you’re the one claiming you know that Thor’s fan base is limited – it was huge in the day. I guess you ignored my positive comments about Branagh being the right guy to helm. Just pointing out a highlighted line in the ad that rubs me the wrong way. I’ll try and be better in the future. And I’m not the only who thinks fobbing a FB line is lazy pandering.
Maybe Thor will twitter to Odin at the end.
“it was huge in the day”
Yep. Thus the “in a long time” comment. Try and keep up.
But okay, I did just read your Branagh comment. Fair enough. Just seemed such a minor thing to argue about.
I love the way that people use facebook is pandering. That’s just funny.
ETA: Joe, seriously, Thor is not 2nd tier. Seriously. You folks just stop it and realize that Thor has never been 2nd tier. Now, if you wonderfully informed people want to discuss the current Wasp then sure, you might have a 2nd tier character there, but I want Scott Lang in the Avengers movie.
Oh yeah, you fucking suck for insulting Bill Cartwright. That’s tacky. You could have gone with Luc Longley, you jerk 😛
All this talk about “topical references” is kinda-sorta funny for me — but not reasons you might think. For the past few semesters, I have shown All the President’s Men and Shampoo as part of a course I teach about the New Hollywood era. And I have found that, before I show these films, in order for the students to make sense of all the “topical references,” I have to give a detailed lecture (backed up with on-line accessible references) to explain, among other things, who Spiro Agnew and Daniel Ellsberg were, and what Chappaquiddick and the 1968 Presidential Election were all about.
IO, I was collecting Avengers comics back before you were sperm. When you grow up, you will come to understand that opinions that differ from your own do not necessarily require ignorance of something.
Would Alexander Skarsgard looked like a big, slow piece of meat? No. This guy has in every single place I have seen him.
And btw, Iron Man was my favorite. Still thought the story in both movies was weak.
There is no question that the Downey casting took them a step above, as in a weird way, Keaton did for Burton’s Batman. And letting Bale go as dark and grunty has been a great choice by Nolan.
All I want from a summer movie, a winter movie, a fall movie, and a spring movie is good… and really, good by its own standards. And you know how I determine it… I look at the movie, not the hype.
And as for Paramount, yes, I have really been slamming True Grit. HATE IT! Shutter Island, too. Idiot.
You know what’s my favorite part of this discussion? Counting how many times IO tells people to shut up in some form or another. Now I wait to be told how its humor…
Thor is apart Marvel’s core, but that doesn’t move him into the larger superhero pantheon. Iron Man wasn’t, neither were the X-Men outside Wolverine, so it’s not a way to gauge a character’s appeal. If that were the case, Hulk and Superman should be rivaling Nolan’s Batman success and Wonder Woman would be heading towards a sequel.
When Branagh signed, everyone felt the same thing; a Lee/Kirby Super Opera directed by a man who can work Shakespearean dialogue. What do we have? Facebook references on an old Hulk set. The appeal, Excalibur with superheroes, was traded in for Highlander 2 and the storyline from Hercules in New York.
In other words, the cheapness is becoming an issue. Just like the 3D conversion when it could have been shot in 3D. We all talked about this once IM2 didn’t explode at the box.
Marvel is now in a zero-sum game. This is either going to pay off dividends with Avengers or Disney is going to have to make moves to assuage holders they didn’t overpay in a panic. It doesn’t help that X-Men and Spidey are also going to be of a smaller scale because Marvel will own the outcome before Fox or Sony.
David: If you have reading The Avengers that long — do you find it odd that they want The Hulk in the lineup for the movie, even though he left the group in, what, Issue No. 2? Or have I missed something since I stopped reading decades ago?
That Guy With The Maul mask wrote;
“IO, I was collecting Avengers comics back before you were sperm. When you grow up, you will come to understand that opinions that differ from your own do not necessarily require ignorance of something.”
You bring up Kat Denning’s chest, the whole thing with Bieber, and now apparently bringing up me as sperm. Seriously, you are not Jeff Wells, so stop being a creepy fucker.
Compared to me, sorry, but you are out of fucking sorts. Seriously, please, go buy a comic, and then get back to me. Until then, you aren’t down (basically you are a geek hating son of a gun and everyone knows it), you don’t know, and I am just not going to let it slide.
“Would Alexander Skarsgard looked like a big, slow piece of meat? No. This guy has in every single place I have seen him.”
Skarsgard is another softcore porn pretty boy, who gets out acted by a pair of tits on True Blood. Hemsworth is in this film because countless people, not just me, saw him in Star Trek and immediately wanted him in a super hero film. Guess what? We are still fucking right. I do get why you are pissed about this of course, but give the dude a fucking chance. Jesus.
“And btw, Iron Man was my favorite. Still thought the story in both movies was weak.”
This is why you are so fucking BAFFLING for someone who writes online on a daily basis. YOU WROTE THREE DISSERTATIONS AS TO WHY IRON MAN SUCKED. THREE! I spent one responding to you and you basically responded to me as if I were an idiot because that’s your default position towards anyone who does not agree with you.
“There is no question that the Downey casting took them a step above, as in a weird way, Keaton did for Burton’s Batman. And letting Bale go as dark and grunty has been a great choice by Nolan.”
This is fine.
“All I want from a summer movie, a winter movie, a fall movie, and a spring movie is good… and really, good by its own standards. And you know how I determine it… I look at the movie, not the hype.”
HOW DOES THOR HAVE HYPE?!?! Seriously? Why are you RAILING AGAINST THOR? If it’s the Hemsworth casting then I am not going to be hypocrite because it’s not like I am ever going to get over Cavill’s casting, but give the fucking film a chance before writing it off.
“And as for Paramount, yes, I have really been slamming True Grit. HATE IT! Shutter Island, too. Idiot.”
If I were a real fucking jackass. I would go and pull every fucking article and box office analysis where you have slammed Paramount. Seriously, you slam Paramount as if you were Stan Hansen taking down jabroni back in 1985!
Seriously, it’s not like this Paramount bias is new or anything, but you have a hard-on of hate for them because of some bullshit fucking reason that only you have, and only you can explain.
ETA: Martin, you really need to shut the fuck up. See? If I want you to shut the fuck up… figuratively, then I have no problem stating as much.
IO, sometimes you wear your ignorance like a badge of honor.
David, sorry Mr. High Evolutionary, but no one flaunts not knowing, but speculating, more than you.
IO I’m thinking of using a comic book character for a spiritual superhero spin. Any suggestions on which character (3rd tier) we can adapt without annoying too many people?
http://i39.tinypic.com/2z6e5au.jpg
There you go.
I’m getting a 1987 MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE live-action movie vibe from the trailer. Just done much more expensively.
That said, I enjoyed MOTU.
MOTU does have it’s moments.
my favorite is Luke Cage.
Can we just reassemble the cast and crew from Black Dynamite to do it?
There’s actually another Power Man these days. So you can make a movie where Michael Jai White is Luke Cage and can get involved with kung-fu shenanigans against Power Man!
YOU. WILL. KNEEEEEEEEELLLL!!!!
Frank Langella completely enjoying himself…
JBD – Adam Warlock?
Rocket Raccoon would probably work as well.
Nah, Rocket Raccoon could never handle the power of Greyskull.
Joe… it’s marketing. The Hulk is one of the A-listers. People think The Hulk interacting with others will be cool. He’s in. If they could get Spider-Man to cameo from the Sony lot, he’d be in.
I always waded around The Avengers, often preferring the periods when they had short-timers in. I really enjoyed the Civil War series… old school and new politics in one.
About 3 years ago when I was doing some story editing for Russell Simmons’ company, I read a LUKE CAGE feature script by Ben Ramsey that they were developing, or at least thinking of developing (I never saw another draft). It was Cage’s origin story — moved from the 70s to present day, of course — combined with a fairly standard revenge drama, but it seemed to have the potential to be a pretty exciting action flick.
Bring on THE BLACK PANTHER.
Yancy, did it have Jessica Jones in it?
Oh yeah, fuck Civil War. It’s not as bad as the Skrull Invasion but it’s just another pointless Marvel event that basically led to Tony Stark needing to a brain scrubbing to forget his involvement in it. Oh yeah, they ripped off LOST with bring Steve back as well but I got the Secret Avengers out of this nonsense, so I guess it was worth it?
ETA: Now I remember why Civil War really is a piece of shit… ONE MORE DAY! Fucking Joe Quesda Jr.
How pissed is Judy Greer than Kat Dennings is taking her roles?
Probably not much, since she’s on a series now.
So Kat Dennings and Judy Greer are similar now? Really?
Judy was the giggly sidekick of choice a few years ago… I assume that Josh sees this as Kat’s role here.
Judy has had a remarkable career, really. I remember when the producers wouldn’t pay for her to come to Sundance for Jawbreaker… and she’s pretty much outlasted Rebecca Gayheart and Rose McGowan.
She was The Director’s Choice for a while… the girl they all wanted to work with… brilliantly funny and pretty enough to be sexually attractive, but not quite a great beauty.
Dennings and Emma Stone have been hanging around there though Stone got Easy A accelerating her into Leading Lady status (and I fear that Spider-Man will slow her back down), while Dennings hasn’t had That Moment yet in a film that really works. But she has a lot of people rooting for her to have it.
Great Gerwig is another strong candidate to fill that slot for directors for the next decade.
All three of these actresses have a different energy than Judy. All three are a bit easier to glam up. And Stone & Dennings are younger, which raises the bar on the sex-draw-to-teen-boys thing.
For a decade or so, you knew that no matter how mediocre the film, if Greer was in it, there would be something to take away from sitting through the film. Kat and Emma and Greta offer that now.
Kat Dennings actually has several That Moments in Daydream Nation, a terrific movie I saw at Toronto last fall. Trouble is, the movie appears to have been overlooked by most press that attended the fest. If a tree falls in the forest when there’s no one there to hear it…
David, I can also see Anna Kendrick going the way of Judy Greer in the next few years. While the acting in the Twilight films is rightly panned by most critics, her supporting work is often singled out for distinction. After her breakthrough with Up in the Air, it will be interesting what direction she takes once the vampire films wrap.
I think THE HELP will tell the story with Stone as much as SPIDER-MAN.
Apparently Kat Dennings is doing a pilot for CBS and my god does it seem hokey. That’s if they shoot it as a regular sitcom. If they one camera that sucker. IT might be work checking out.
I saw Nick & Norah, and all I can remember is that horrible puke scene. If Kat Dennings was in a line-up, I don’t know if I would be able to pick her out.
Joe – I made a point of DP/30ing Ms Dennings after seeing the film. Wasn’t going to. But yeah, it got lower case distribution. It shows what she can do, but will barely get seen.
http://moviecitynews.com/2010/09/daydream-nation-actors-kat-dennings-josh-lucas/
That’s absolutely what I mean – Judy Greer has been the go-to actress for “best friend of the leading lady” for almost a decade now. I actually like Dennings a lot more, and hope she doesn’t fall into that typecasting.
For the benefit of those who tuned in late: This is the movie David and I are talking about:
http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117943667/
Krill, just turn off the safe search on google images, and you will never forget Kat Dennings… AG’IN!
David: BTW: Meant to post this back originally when you ran that DP/30, but: I was shocked when I saw a movie with a cast like Peacock has go directly to video. Did you or anybody else here actually see this one? Was it that bad?
“I did however forget why David is acting like a total jagoff towards this movie: IT’S A PARAMOUNT FILM AND HE STILL HATES FUCKING PARAMOUNT! Duh! My bad for forgetting.”
IO, you’ve also forgotten that every single person who posted in this thread that was posting at the time thought Iron Man was a lower tier character whose movie was going to top out at $150mil, right up until the day it opened. That is, everyone except you and I. They’re wrong again. Just let them smear egg on their faces.
That’s not accurate at all, Pete.
I hate to say it, but the more I watch this trailer the more it’s growing on me. The only thing that is making me hesitate is the existence of the last trailer. so we’ll see.
About supporting actresses: previously I think David has referred to Joan Cusack as Judy Greer’s quirky best friend predecessor. What’s interesting about Cusack’s career is she has manage to parlay her quirky best friend niche into a quirky mom niche in films like Ice Princess and Mars Needs Moms. Even when the films themselves are are forgettable, Joan’s performances are hilarious, real, and fearless.
Martin, it’s so freaking true. Thanks for remind me Pete.
Peacock is a terrific little picture, but it’s not the kind of visceral horror show that audiences want on a Friday night. It has a slow-building dread that really works, and everyone in it is top-notch. In a weird way (spoilers for the first ten minutes or so…), it’s almost like Psycho played out in a more realistic and less pulpy fashion. I’m not surprised it went straight-to-DVD. Disappointed, but not surprised. Especially in the horror genre, the stuff that fails to make it to theaters is often quite superior to the actual studio theatrical releases.
Judy Greer is super funny. I can’t help but smile thinking of her ex-receptionist character Kitty flashing her recently augmented breasts in ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT. Or Gob Bluth’s strained attempts to seduce her.
Kat Dennings was extremely charming in CHARLIE BARTLETT, an underrated movie too in my opinion.
Judy Greer SUUUUUUUUUCKS, is annoying, is a poor man’s Anne Heche, never shows her feet….
And looks like a manic giraffe.
http://tinyurl.com/4rrc8tp Yeah brother man, you are going to have to take that Judy Greer bashing back right after you click on that link.
Too wan, too gawky, too lanky, too campy, not a fan.
No charisma either. One of those chicks who film critics get wood over because she reminds them of some godawful dame from the screwball days, but in general women who do comedy and who talk that much on screen = NOT HOT.
Oh she is a very good looking woman and she kills it on Archer. KILLS… IT. You are really one of those dudes who doesn’t like ladies being funny. That’s just weird.
Also, who doesn’t love dames from screwball comedies?
“that every single person who posted in this thread that was posting at the time thought Iron Man was a lower tier character whose movie was going to top out at $150mil, right up until the day it opened.”
Huh? I pointed out that Iron Man was no lower-tier character and Downey’s casting was genius. So there.
Yeah but the lot of you had no faith in it making anything more than five bucks!
ETA: I am not sure if it’s just you guys don’t know, but Thor has been saturated out there for a while. The kids know who he is, by proxy the parents know who he is, and there are countless people who saw Iron Man 2 and now know who wields that hammer.
I get that this blog of all place never over hypes comic book movies, but referring to Thor as 2nd tier in an attempt to possibly explain future box office, is just plain weird. If the film is better than that fucking Wolverine film, then it’s in the money. Oh jesus, it might have had spent a lot on marketing and it may have cost too much, but every damn film cost too much. Should we really be using that as a reference of profitability these days when nothing seems to be profitable? Just askin.
115 boring posts on this boring subject. But if I may add the one thing that stood out first:
Really, Hemsworth couldn’t have grown out his own hair and beard? I guess he probably had it short from Star Trek and they didn’t have a year to let him grow it out, but still… that wig and GLUED-ON BEARD look so fucking cheap. He didn’t have two weeks to grow a proper beard that looked more realistic than that ratty thing that looks like it should have an elastic string behind his head?
So allow me to again register my CONSTANT amazement that Hollywood can create CGI galaxies and exploding robots and other worlds… but no one– NO ONE– can make a convincing wig that doesn’t look like 12:47am SNL.
Lex, you never watched Lost did you? Poor Lexy.
Say what? I watched three seasons of it; the flashback scene wigs were as bad as anywhere else’s, from O’Quinn to Fox, and ESPECIALLY Desmond’s.
Late to the party, but Judy Greer indeed belongs in the class of second-bananas who are indeed hotter than the romantic leads they are supporting. Have liked her ever since Pheonix picked the wrong sister in The Village. Let me also throw Krysten Ritter into said catagory. Glad to see she’s getting noticed as well. A ‘7’? Surely you jest, She’s Out of My League marketing department. Oh, and I’ve long lusted after Joan Cussack and give props to any movie that doesn’t hide her hotness (Addams Family Values, School of Rock, etc).
For those who care: http://scottalanmendelson.blogspot.com/2010/01/out-of-his-leage-gets-trailer.html
This second trailer looks great!
I particularly like the appearance of Odin’s destroyer construct – that’s one powerful badass!
As an Aussie science fiction writer: http://www.goldenvisionsmagazine.biz/AlienHunter.html
I’ve been a Marvel Thor fan since the original Journey into Mystery of August 1962.
If you get a chance check out some of my Marvel (mainly Odin and Thor) fan fiction. Just scroll down below my author profile and you will see over 40 fan fiction stories here:
http://www.fanfiction.net/u/1276881/David_Scholes
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